~ a year of celebrations

No Bull-y

This is one of those topics that I never gave much thought to until I had a child of my own. With some of the horrible bullying stories I hear on a much too frequent basis, I fear that this is a major problem that all parents must face. I always said that if I am only able to teach my kids one thing, that one lesson would be to be nice to everyone. I don’t want my kids to be bullies almost more than I worry about them actually being bullied. I suppose this isn’t going to be a real topic of discussion for several more years with my kiddos, but being proactive is one of the best ways to deal with these types of social situations. Here are some alarming stats I found out today:

* 1 out of 4 kids is bullied.

* 1 out of 5 kids admits to being a bully, or doing some “Bullying.”

* 8% of students miss 1 day of class per month for fear of Bullies.

* 850,000 students stay home from school at least once a month.

* 43% fear harassment in the bathroom at school.

* 100,000 students carry a gun to school.

* 28% of youths who carry weapons have witnessed violence at home.

* A poll of teens ages 12-17 proved that they think violence increased at their schools.

* 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.

* More youth violence occurs on school grounds as opposed to on the way to school.

* 80% of the time, an argument with a bully will end up in a physical fight.

* 1/3 of students surveyed said they heard another student threaten to kill someone.

* 1 out of 5 teens knows someone who brings a gun to school.

Wow, some of these are extremely frightening. Here is a really good site that can educate everyone on all the ins and outs of bullying, including the newest version – cyberbulling: